Macedonia by Ljubica Grozdanovska Dimishkovska Capital: Skopje Population: 2.1 million GNI/capita, PPP: US$11,540 Source: !e data above are drawn from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2014. Nations in Transit Ratings and Averaged Scores 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Electoral Process 3.00 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.50 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 Civil Society 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 3.25 Independent Media 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.50 4.75 4.75 5.00 National Democratic 4.25 Governance 4.00 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 Local Democratic 3.75 Governance 4.00 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 3.75 Judicial Framework 4.25 and Independence 3.75 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 Corruption 5.00 4.75 4.75 4.50 4.25 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 Democracy Score 3.89 3.82 3.82 3.86 3.86 3.79 3.82 3.89 3.93 4.00 NOTE: !e ratings reflect the consensus of Freedom House, its academic advisers, and the author(s) of this report. !e opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s). !e ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest. !e Democracy Score is an average of ratings for the categories tracked in a given year. 410 Nations in Transit 2014 E S t the end of 2012, Macedonia’s governing coalition went to extreme lengths to approve the 2013 national budget, forcibly ejecting journalists and members of the largest opposition party from the National Assembly during Athe vote. “Black Monday,” as the date of these events came to be known, exacerbated the already difficult relationship between the ruling Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization–Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) and the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), resulting in a political crisis that virtually paralyzed governance in 2013. Both parties repeatedly threatened each other with early elections, and it took an intervention by the European Commission and other international bodies to dissuade the SDSM from boycotting local elections in March. Although the political crisis nearly delayed the vote on the European Commission’s spring report, the annual progress report published in October acknowledged a number of positive developments in Macedonia and stated the country is still on track toward candidate status. Nevertheless, the naming dispute with Greece, which claims exclusive rights to the geographical designation “Macedonia” on historical grounds, led the European Council to postpone the beginning of accession negotiations for a fifth consecutive year. Concerns about declining media freedom in Macedonia over the last several years were amplified in 2013 by the arrest and harsh sentencing of investigative journalist Tomislav Kezarovski. Kezarovski, who was kept in pretrial detention for several months, was sentenced to four and a half years in October for revealing the identity of a protected witness. International media watchdogs also reacted negatively to a packet of media legislation that could potentially curb freedom of speech; the government promised to amend the laws at year’s end. After a member of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was elected mayor of Centar, he fulfilled a campaign promise by initiating an audit of the multimillion-euro urban redevelopment project Skopje 2014. !e investigation revealed several irregularities. Additional scandals linked to public procurement and party financing further underscored the scale of Macedonia’s corruption problems. National Democratic Governance. !e events of “Black Monday” effectively paralyzed governance in Macedonia for the first half of 2013, undermining progress towards European Union (EU) accession. Political deadlock eased after SDSM agreed to participate in the March local elections, but other deep-rooted problems, such as the name dispute with Greece or legacies of the 2001 interethnic conflict, remained largely unaddressed. Ethnic tensions rose in March, following the appointment of a Macedonia 411 former Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) commander as defense minister. Macedonia’s national democratic governance rating remains unchanged at 4.25. Electoral Process. !e ruling VMRO–DPMNE claimed the most seats in local elections held on 24 March, winning in 54 of Macedonia’s 80 municipalities, including the city of Skopje. !e elections were assessed as free and fair, though minor incidents and irregularities were noted. In the months leading up to the elections, opposition SDSM threatened to boycott the vote, but they relented after the international community intervened to broker an agreement between the two main parties. Party financing in Macedonia lacks transparency, and the electoral framework remains in need of reform. Macedonia’s electoral process rating remains unchanged at 3.25. Civil Society. Compared to previous years, the government appeared more open to cooperation with the civil sector in 2013. Several initiatives, such as the online legislative register and the e-Democracy portal, aimed to foster cooperation and provide a favorable environment for civil society in Macedonia. At the same time, the number of politically connected NGOs remained high, and political ties with the government continued to discredit the sector. Macedonia’s civil society rating remains unchanged at 3.25. Independent Media. Media outlets in Macedonia are increasingly dependent on government advertising for financial support, contributing to their growing politicization and a further loss of credibility and readership. Pressures facing Macedonian media and journalists drew significant attention in late 2013, when investigative journalist Tomislav Kezarovski was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for revealing the identity of a protected witness in the 2008 “Oreshe” case. Local and international press watchdogs condemned Kezarovski’s harsh sentencing and lengthy pretrial detention, raising many questions about the merits of the case itself. In December, the government drew additional criticism when it adopted controversial media legislation in a quick, nontransparent process. Among other changes, the new laws expanded statutory regulation to print and online media. As the legislative and economic environment for independent media deteriorates, Macedonia’s independent media rating declines from 4.75 to 5.00. Local Democratic Governance. Political battles between the country’s largest parties hindered tangible progress on pressing issues such as decentralization or the need for greater fiscal independence from the central government. After local elections in March, both the governing and opposition parties repeatedly accused each other’s local representatives of abusing their position. In Centar, a key municipality of Skopje, newly elected opposition mayor Andrej Zernovski faced protests and pressure from the central government after he initiated an audit of the multimillion-euro redevelopment project Skopje 2014. Macedonia’s democratic governance rating remains unchanged at 3.75. 412 Nations in Transit 2014 Judicial Framework and Independence. !e judiciary in Macedonia is still plagued by allegations of selective justice, indirect political pressure, and unusually expedited lawsuits. !e influence of the executive branch over legal proceedings was criticized in numerous high-profile cases during the year. Meanwhile, the Kezarovski trial highlighted flaws in the legal framework and a general lack of understanding of the institution of witness protection. As of December 2013, Macedonia replaced investigative judge-led proceedings with an adversarial system. Macedonia’s rating for judicial framework and independence remains at 4.25. Corruption. Although nearly every government in independent Macedonia’s history has claimed to prioritize the fight against corruption, graft remains widespread. !e transparency of party finance and general public expenditures is especially lacking, and most citizens are still unwilling to report incidents of corrupt or illegal behavior. Newly documented irregularities and mismanagement related to the Skopje 2014 redevelopment project highlighted the nontransparency of procurement procedures, as well as an apparent lack of political will to improve the situation. A 2013 audit of the project initiated by the mayor of Centar concluded that uncompetitive bidding procedures and other irregularities had cost taxpayers approximately €8 million. As anticorruption efforts stagnate, Macedonia’s corruption rating declines from 4.00 to 4.25. Outlook for 2014. Pervasive corruption, the deep politicization of the civil sector, and media outlets’ declining credibility threaten Macedonia’s democratic development and the future of EU and NATO integration. Presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2014 are not likely to result in sweeping changes, though they will probably expose pernicious political polarization. Poverty and high unemployment rates will continue to pose a problem and already fragile ethnic relations may suffer in case of another political deadlock. Macedonia 413 M R National Democratic Governance 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 4.00 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.25 4.25 4.25 Political deadlock in the first half of 2013 jeopardized Macedonia’s spring progress report and stalled accession negotiations with the European Union (EU).1 !e country was granted candidate status in 2005, but continuous problems, including a 20-year-long naming dispute with Greece, resulted in the repeated postponement of opening talks. Macedonia, after Turkey, is the second country to spend almost a decade in the EU’s waiting room. !e deadlock started with a political crisis on 24 December 2012. Earlier, opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) had sought reductions in the 2013 budget to prevent a rise in the national debt, but the governing majority had denied their request.